1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of strawberry named ‘Ruby June.’ This new short day strawberry variety is the result of a controlled cross in an ongoing breeding program made by the inventor, Jimmy Bagdasarian, in 2008. The variety is botanically known as Fragaria×ananassa. 
The primary market for the ‘Ruby June’ variety is for the fresh market sales of the fruit. ‘Ruby June’ produces large conical berries with few creases, and with good firmness.
2. Description of Relevant Prior Art
The controlled cross, conducted in the ongoing breeding program, which resulted in the ‘Ruby June’ variety, was between the strawberry variety designated ‘10B131,’ a male, and a strawberry variety designated ‘2G16,’ a female.
The male parent, ‘10B131,’ is an unreleased proprietary variety having the following characteristics: medium day-neutral; globose habit; tight density; leaves which are dark green in color; and, the variety exhibits medium plant vigor.
The female parent, ‘2G16,’ is an unreleased proprietary variety having the following plant characteristics: strong short day; compact growth habit; leaves have low glossiness with considerable blistering, and are dark green in color; medium firm fruit has an excellent flavor, and an attractive medium red interior color; and the variety exhibits medium plant vigor.
The leaves of ‘Ruby June’ have medium glossiness and exhibit medium leaf blistering in comparison to the leaves of the female parent, ‘2G16,’ which have low leaf gloss and considerable leaf blistering. The leaf color of ‘Ruby June’ is dark green like both of its parent varieties.
The aforementioned controlled cross was carried out in a breeding program at Santa Cruz, Calif., USA. Pollen taken from a male ‘10B131’ plant pollinated a ‘2G16’ female plant. The flowers were covered so that no other pollen could contaminate the procedure.
Strawberries developed, were later harvested and the seeds resulting from this cross were extracted and germinated in a greenhouse at Redding, Calif., USA. The resulting seedlings were transplanted to Shastina, Calif. in 2009, grown for an additional period of time and allowed to propagate asexually. Plants were then harvested and planted in breeding plots in early to mid-October in: Oxnard, Calif. (Ventura County); and Watsonville, Calif. (Monterey County). The selection of the new variety was first made in Watsonville, Calif. This selection was designated ‘33K46’ in 2010.
The new variety underwent further testing and was propagated asexually by stolons in breeding plots. Further testing was conducted under growing conditions present in both Northern and Southern districts in test plots in: Macdoel, Calif. (Siskiyou County); and Manteca, Calif. (San Joaquin County).
The new variety has also been “meristemed.” Small pieces of plant material (approximately 0.5 mm in diameter), consisting of the undifferentiated meristem tissue and one or two leaf primordia, were removed from the buds on crowns of young daughter plants, then placed on nutrient medium, and new plants were grown from them. Planting stock from the “meristemed” plants are growing in a screenhouse located in Redding, Calif.
The new variety was named ‘Ruby June.’ The propagules of ‘Ruby June’ (‘33K46’) are identical to the original plant in all distinguishing characteristics; accordingly, the propagation discussed above has demonstrated that the traits disclosed herein remain fixed and true to type through successive generations of asexual reproduction.